Guide to 1.7.7

[WBK 176]

WBK's n00b guide to 1.7.7

I’m here to write a guide for the 1.7.7 patch, hopefully to show people whether they want to stick with 1.7.6.1, upgrade, or remove DayZ entirely. Also, this is just for anyone who’s bored of seeing fights between people who love the new patch and those who hate it. It provides no insight when there are two sides arguing back and forth between "this game is boring now and “you're just n00bs". So I'm going to avoid abusing people for playing one way or another, and hopefully you do too. We’ll see how it goes, hey? I’ll put my thoughts in at the end as well.

I only started playing about a month ago, so I'm no pro at this game - or any others for that matter – and I never played the older versions of DayZ which were either just as hard or harder, apparently. But here are the main talking points of the new patch, all of which tie in with each other:

• Loot tables nerfed a lot
  
• Much harder to escape zombies
  
• Chance of infection very high and cure for infection very remote
  
• All in all, survival aspect focussed on, PvP aspect diminished
  

The whole changelog is here, but those are the main points. With the loot tables, you can travel to all the previous bounties of loot (supermarkets, firestations, NWAF) and the returns you’ll get are severely low. Even your starting gear is now devoid of a backpack and flashlight; you only get 1 Bandage, 10 Flares, and either another Bandage or some Painkillers. The flip side to this is that there are heaps more loot spawns. The doorways of locked buildings, iron barns, car crashes and more. I’ve found loot to be most severely removed from supermarkets. They’re almost barren except for a few backpacks and the odd toolbelt item. But the rewards are there if you keep looking. Those who only scour what used to be high-value spawn sites will soon find themselves dying.

Zombies now are stronger in several ways. First, zeds do not lose your line of sight. Second, infection chance has increased for all zed hits. Third, there is a high chance of being knocked over by a zed hit (insta-prone). Finally, a new ‘viral’ zed has been added with more health, attack, and an even greater chance for infection. On the first point, zeds are extremely difficult to escape from now. Hiding in bushes doesn’t work, nor does running around buildings or through pine trees. The only real ways to avoid being chased are to either run through a building, kill them or avoid them altogether. Secondly – and this is probably most controversial – zeds have a much higher chance of infecting you than before. Combine this with almost non-existent antibiotics, and people are dying or just giving up the moment they get infected. (There is a little known tent trick, where sleeping gives you a 1/16 chance of removing infection). Third, zeds knock you over what appears to be about 1 in every 3 hits from behind or the side (don’t know the value). This causes you to drop and stop immediately, although this doesn’t seem to be too bad, as zeds stop hitting you for about 1-2 seconds after being knocked down. Only really causes trouble if all escape points are blocked. Finally, the viral zed is a beast. 3 hits from the hatchet for this bad boy. Watch out.

A few tips for 1.7.7

Zeds are no longer an afterthought; these bastards will kill you now. Last time round, no one took them seriously. You could draw 10 of them and be 100% confident of survival. You literally have to be as silent as possible, and as far away as possible just to have a hope of surviving. I died 5 times in my first hour just teasing zeds like I did in 6.1. They are now the biggest threat to a survivor early- and mid-game. Late-game (fully geared) will still be the home of PvP, but you ain’t got no hope of getting there if you don’t treat zeds like a submarine; run silent, run deep, and sure as shit don’t fire a gun there, unless you want your life to go to hell. The moment one whiffs you, he gets all his buddies on you if you don’t sort him out quickly. If they don’t kill you instantly either, there’s always the chance of infection.

There will be a funeral tomorrow for the ol’ run-and-gun, coast-or-toast style of gameplay with this patch; it kills you, fast. You can no longer afford to run through Elektro or Cherno. First off, the rewards are too low. With the nerfed loot, heading straight for the firestation and maybe supermarket will hardly get you anywhere. You might get a gun or a nice item, but you won’t be kitted instantly like last version. Second, the risk is too high. You won’t be able to get away from a pack of zeds in a big town, and if someone is there with even a moderate weapon, they will rule the roost.

Stick to smaller towns, and visit every loot spot. The gap between low and high value loot spawns is smaller now, although loot has been drastically lowered overall. So while loot is much rarer, good loot is relatively more abundant. Emphasis on relatively. This shit is still practically invisible.

My View

Personally, I love it. I can tell that the game is heading towards what it is truly meant to be; a hardcore apocalypse survival simulator, in as much as a game with zombies can be called a sim. This game is not supposed to be easy, so this iteration won’t be too popular. It might draw back a few old players who thought it was getting too easy, but heaps more will just stick to 6.1 or switch to more of an FPS. So I am kind of torn about it because it's a great game and I want as many people to experience it as possible. I think something a bit harder would be perfect for a mod like 2017 which appeals to the hardcore survivalists like me, and something a bit easier for the main mod perfect for all-round gameplay and which will maximise profits for Rocket and everyone come SA time. If it was all about me though... the harder the better :D

The concept of a zombie scares the shit out of me. Zombies are meant to kill you, and if you get near them they should infect you with god knows what. They're filth-ridden, diseased, psychotic death peddlers for crying out loud. When the world as you know it is over, no aspect of it should have you feeling safe enough to think more than 2 minutes into the future. When survival is your only thought - your only goal - you don't have the luxury of thinking that far ahead. People used to think, “I’ll just raid Cherno then head north”. Not anymore. One step at a time. Now it’s “I’m just going to creep into this house, then re-evaluate my position”. Just like a real fuckin’ apocalypse. Because, y’know, I’ve experienced so many....

Everything should be scarce. This apocalypse has obviously gone on long enough to empty Chernarus of all civilised life, bar a few survivors unlucky enough not to escape. Food, medical supplies and weapons would all be almost entirely used up. Supermarkets would've been looted long before the last server restart, airfields would have been scoured long before the first bandit got there. You get my drift. The apocalypse doesn't start when the server does.

So yeah, I LOVE 1.7.7. Plus there’s a few more gems hidden in there: the journal, the new stashes, being able to re-combine magazines. Also they removed the M107 and AS50, which is great for increasing the survival aspect.

Well guys, if you read this far, I really appreciate it, and I hope it has helped you!

WBK

[attorney1977 311]

Good first post :)

[PK Richie 507]

Beans for effort :)

Welcome to the Dayz mod forums.

[Feral (DayZ) 622]

nice balanced appraisal of and guide to the patch

[Marmoo 32]

Nice write up.

Good reflection of what the Mod has become, or going back to.

Me and my buddy played the new patch today for the 1st time and we would both say that it is a change for the good.

Like OP, I am not going to say anything about whether PvP is better than the survival aspect, but today I felt like I was playing

a different game.

More of the same please :D

[fluxley 2228]

Nice guide man :beans:

I would say though it is still possible to lose zeds with a little practice, I've found that first you need you get a little distance on them by going through a few trees or buildings then find good large group of pine trees, run through making sure not to get into the line of sight of the zeds and as you get to the last tree try hiding inside or just crouch walk away, the key is to make sure you have the distance as they can reaquire your location through sound if they are too close.

[Fonebook 126]

I think something a bit harder would be perfect for a mod like 2017 which appeals to the hardcore survivalists like me, and something a bit easier for the main mod perfect for all-round gameplay and which will maximise profits for Rocket and everyone come SA time. If it was all about me though... the harder the better :D

Compare the Battlefield franchise today to the amazing game it was when it first came out. Compare the first and second Call of Duty titles to what has become of the franchise today. I love your post and think you are putting a lot of effort into having a fair and balanced view. I happen to disagree on this singular point though. It would be a shame if they altered the game in order to increase profits. In order for games to evolve, change, and improve we need adventurous developers. We need people to look at the state of the industry and push it somewhere. If everyone sticks to making games within some acceptable formula for difficulty or game play we will not have adventurous titles and the industry will stagnate around some self propagating standard. Sometimes we need developers to show us that we actually do want something different than we thought.

[WBK 176]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback :)

We need people to look at the state of the industry and push it somewhere. If everyone sticks to making games within some acceptable formula for difficulty or game play we will not have adventurous titles and the industry will stagnate around some self propagating standard. Sometimes we need developers to show us that we actually do want something different than we thought.

I agree with you entirely here. Ideally, I would want SA to be a hardcore, pure survivalist. I just think that... actually no stuff that, no justification. I agree entirely, that is all.

[TommsteruK 5]

you say "heaps more loot". by that do you mean "heaps more tin cans"? because the problem is there sin't ENOUGH loot. have you been in a hospital? you could find like 5 antibiotics, 30 blood bags, and loads more. Now you're lucky to find a bandage.

The patch needs to be fixed. The reason everybody is angry is because it feels like when you go on a recruit server it feels like you're playing expert. Also, the 1.7.7. Patch brings along many more glitches such as:

Random bleeding that you can't see.

ALL stat monitors (Drink, Food etc) are always fully green. ALWAYS.

Screen doesn't change colour so it doesn't look like you have lost blood.

This is why people are so angry, I personally rolled back to 1.7.6.1 to get rid of the horrific "upgrade" to DayZ.

Just my opinion :/

[WBK 176]

you say "heaps more loot"

By that I meant loot spawn points. Most of the post I'm saying how scarce loot itself is. But there are more places to find loot now.

Random bleeding that you can't see.

ALL stat monitors (Drink, Food etc) are always fully green. ALWAYS.

Screen doesn't change colour so it doesn't look like you have lost blood.

I've not experienced any of those glitches.

[FreshmeatDK 22]

you say "heaps more loot". by that do you mean "heaps more tin cans"? because the problem is there sin't ENOUGH loot. have you been in a hospital? you could find like 5 antibiotics, 30 blood bags, and loads more. Now you're lucky to find a bandage.

The patch needs to be fixed. The reason everybody is angry is because it feels like when you go on a recruit server it feels like you're playing expert.

That is exactly what the mod is trying to get away from. Sure, a lot of players are going to leave, but they can be entertained everywhere else. Then DayZ can cater to those who are happy about this style.

Also, the 1.7.7. Patch brings along many more glitches such as:

Random bleeding that you can't see.

ALL stat monitors (Drink, Food etc) are always fully green. ALWAYS.

Screen doesn't change colour so it doesn't look like you have lost blood.

Are you sure this is not a server problem? I just had my screen slowly fade to desaturation and my indicators going down as usual, in a vanilla game.

[fluxley 2228]

Random bleeding that you can't see.

ALL stat monitors (Drink, Food etc) are always fully green. ALWAYS.

Screen doesn't change colour so it doesn't look like you have lost blood.

Not seen any other reports of these issues, have you been getting this on all servers?

If so you should report them here http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/139033-dayz-177dev-bug-list/

make sure to include details of the servers it happens on.

[ski2060 5]

you could find like 5 antibiotics, 30 blood bags, and loads more. Now you're lucky to find a bandage.

Also, the 1.7.7. Patch brings along many more glitches such as:

Random bleeding that you can't see.

ALL stat monitors (Drink, Food etc) are always fully green. ALWAYS.

Screen doesn't change colour so it doesn't look like you have lost blood.

IMO, you shouldn't be able to walk up on a Hospital and get everything you need. You should have to scramble to find supplies.

As to the glitches... LOTS of servers have borked up their new file installs. Then, the mission generator for the servers was messed up and had to be fixed. Teething pains just like every other patch.

This stuff will work out. Like the OP has noted, it's a different game and you can't just run and gun all over the map now.

[TommsteruK 5]

IMO, you shouldn't be able to walk up on a Hospital and get everything you need. You should have to scramble to find supplies.

As to the glitches... LOTS of servers have borked up their new file installs. Then, the mission generator for the servers was messed up and had to be fixed. Teething pains just like every other patch.

This stuff will work out. Like the OP has noted, it's a different game and you can't just run and gun all over the map now.

I personally never thought you could. Yes, it was easy to find an AK, maybe a revolver ETC. but the ammo was still quite scarce, and the PvP, if anything, has increased, so people can get the now super scarce loot off of new spawns.

If you own a winnie, or even a pistol at the coast, you are king of the coast.

The people that find even 1 mag for their gun WILL use it on players, just because there is a chance that they have bandages + painkillers, which are now too precious.